The identity of the person whose head washed ashore at a popular South Florida tourist beach has been identified as a teenager who disappeared after saving his older sister from drowning.
Victor Enrique Castaneda Jr., 19, and his sister, Jessica Castaneda, were last seen going into the ocean at South Point Beach in the early evening of Saturday, Nov. 9, when they were overtaken by a rip current, the Miami Herald previously reported.
On Tuesday, Nov. 12, after three days of unsuccessful searches for the missing teen, a beach worker in Key Biscayne, made a grim discovery, stumbling upon a head that had washed ashore, the Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed to PEOPLE.
Now, the mystery of the human head has been solved. On Friday, Nov. 15, police identified the head as Castaneda’s, according to reports from CBS News, NBC News and the Miami Herald.
WTVJ
The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner also confirmed that remains found on Tuesday near Key Biscayne belonged to Castaneda, according to the Miami Herald and NBC News.
“The Miami Beach Police Department extends prayers and condolences to the family,” said Cmdr. Shantell Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the department, the Miami Herald reported. “Our victim advocates will continue to provide support to the family during this time.”
The Miami Beach Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
A cause and manner of death for the teen have not been released, but there is currently nothing to indicate foul play, a spokesperson for the police told NBC News. An investigation is ongoing.
Last week, before the head was identified, Det. Andre Martin with the Miami-Dade Police Department told PEOPLE that the case was not being investigated as a homicide.
“At this point we’re not discounting any possibility,” he told PEOPLE. “This could be an accident or missing person, it’s too early to tell the circumstances.”
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After Castaneda and his sister were overtaken by a rip current, good samaritans were able to rescue his sister but could not find the teen, local TV station WTVJ reported.
Castaneda’s older sister Jessica later recalled to the outlet that her siblings “had just gotten in the water” when it began getting dark and they got overtaken. “They became distressed and yelling for help,” she told WTVJ.
“Before he was submerged, he threw my sister, because he told her they were gonna die, and he threw her, and that was the last she saw of him,” she added of Castaneda, who she said “died a hero.”
In a Nov. 12 Facebook tribute, Jessica wrote that her brother’s absence “will never be accepted.”
“The pain I’m left with is insurmountable,” she wrote alongside photos of the late teen. “My heart is completely and irreparably shattered. Your absence will never be accepted. No words could ever describe how much I love you Victor. To the top of the highest mountain and to the depths deeper than the titanic, I love you little brother. I love you so much.”
“I will miss you every second of every minute of every single day for the rest of my life,” she concluded. “I will dream of your smile and your infectious laugh until I find you in the next life, in every life I will find you. 🖤.”
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